Basiliscus

Aspar, with Zeno far from Constantinople, has increased his influence by having his son Julius Patricius appointed Caesar and married to Leo I's younger daughter, Leontia, in 470.

Sources are contradictory on the causes, but clearly state that in 471, Leo I had Aspar and Ardabur treacherously killed, certainly with Zeno's and Basiliscus' approval, as in the eve of the murders, the two generals had moved closer to Constantinople (Zeno was at Chalcedon).

Zeno returns to Constantinople after their death and is appointed magister militum praesentalis.

This event marks the consequent end of German domination over Eastern Roman policy.

The Goths, led by Theodoric Strabo, revolt in Thrace after the assassination of Aspar.

Leo I sends Basiliscus to suppress the uprising.

Theodoric called Strabo, son of Triarius, is a chieftain of the Thracian Goths; he has two brothers.

The wife of the Alan general Aspar is his sister.

Strabo has a wife, Sigilda, and a son called Recitach.

He is a contemporary of the more famous Theodoric the Amal, a Moesian Goth of the royal Amal family, who will become known as Theodoric the Great.

Around 459, he is attested as in friendly relationship with the Empire, possibly one of the foederati, and receiving an annual subsidy from Constantinople.

The Alan commander Aspar, at the time magister militum of Emperor Leo I, had been murdered in 471 by order of the emperor himself.

Strabo, who was at the command of his people in Thrace, had revolted to avenge his relative, but had been defeated by the Roman generals Zeno and Basiliscus (both will later become emperors).

However, Strabo had been able to set three conditions to end his unrest: receiving the properties left as legacy by Aspar, being allowed to settle his Goths in Thrace, and being raised to the rank of magister militum.

Since Leo has rejected the requests, offering the rank of magister militum only in exchange of an oath of loyalty, Strabo starts a military campaign against the cities of Thrace.

Part of the Gothic army attacks Philippi (or Philippopolis), while …

…Theodoric Strabo leads the remaining men to attack and occupy Arcadiopolis.

Theodoric signs a peace with Leo in 473 when the Goths run out of supplies; according to its terms, Constantinople is to pay an annual tribute of two thousand pounds of gold to the Goths, whose independence is recognized, and Strabo is to obtain the rank of magister militum.

Nepos, a year after ascending the Western throne, is obliged to recognize the independence of the Visigothic kingdom centered near present Toulouse, France.

Orestes, born an aristocrat of Pannonia Savia, is probably at least partly of Germanic descent.

He was the son of Tatulus, a pagan, and son-in-law to Romulus, who had served as comes in the Western Roman Empire.

After Pannonia was ceded to Attila the Hun, Orestes had joined Attila's court, reaching high position as a secretary (notarius) in 449 and 452.

In 449 Orestes had been sent by Attila twice to Constantinople as envoy to Emperor Theodosius II.

In 475, Orestes had been appointed magister militum and patricius by Julius Nepos.

This proves to be a mistake on the part of Nepos.

By August 28, 475, Orestes, at the head of the foederati, manages to take control of the government in Ravenna, which has served as the capital of the Western Roman Empire since 402.

Julius Nepos flees without a fight to Dalmatia, where he will continue to reign until his assassination in 480.

Orestes, with the emperor far away, on October 31 elevates his son Romulus to the rank of Augustus.

Thus he is known as Romulus Augustulus, meaning "little Augustus", as this last Western Roman emperor is only a twelve-year-old boy.

The new administration is not recognized by the rival Eastern Roman Emperors Zeno and Basiliscus, who still consider Julius Nepos to be their legitimate partner in the administration of the Empire, but as they are engaged in a civil war with each other, neither emperor is about to oppose Orestes in battle.

Patricius, the magister officiorum and lover of Verina, had been executed to prevent her aspirations to elevate him to the throne.

As a consequence, Verina later intrigues against Basiliscus, because of her lover's execution.

Theodoric and Armatus are promoted to magister millitum and magister militum praesentialis and are vying for authority.

Finally, the support of Illus is most likely wavering, given the massacre of the Isaurians allowed by Basiliscus.

Basiliscus has reigned at Constantinople for twenty months, but his religious beliefs make him highly unpopular.

As emperor, he has stirred up discontent because he favors the Monophysite heresy, which holds that the human and divine elements in Christ's nature were inseparable.

During his reign, a disastrous fire in Constantinople destroys much of the city along with many Greek works of art.

With the help of Illus and Armatus, who change their allegiance, Zeno returns to besiege Constantinople in August 476.

The leader of the Pannonian Goths, Theodoric the Amal (later known as Theodoric the Great) had allied to Zeno, and would have attacked Basiliscus and his Thracian Goth foederati led by Theodoric Strabo, receiving, in exchange, the title of magister militum held by Strabo and the payments previously given to the Thracian Goths.

It has been suggested that Constantinople was defenseless during Zeno's siege because the Magister Militum Strabo had moved north to counter this menace.

The Senate opens the gates of the city to the Isaurian, allowing the deposed emperor to resume the throne.

Ariadne is still his Empress consort.

Basiliscus is exiled to a fortress in Cappadocia, where he will die from starvation.

Orestes is free to issue new solidi in the mints of Arles, Milan, Ravenna and Rome, enabling him to pay the barbarian mercenaries who constitute most of the Roman Army at this time.

However, Orestes denies the demands of Heruli, Scirian and Turcilingi mercenaries to be granted Italian lands in which to settle.

Before he overthrew Nepos, the Roman general had promised his barbarian soldiers a third of Italian territory in exchange for assisting with the deposition of the emperor.

After being turned down by Orestes, the dissatisfied mercenaries revolt under the Germanic chieftain Odoacer, whom they declare to be their king on August 23, 476.

Odoacer leads his tribesmen against their former employer, ravaging every town and village in northern Italy and meeting little resistance.

Orestes flees to the city of Pavia, where the city's bishop gives him sanctuary within the city walls.

Despite the protection he receives from the bishop, Orestes is forced to flee for his life when Odoacer and his men break through the city defenses and ravage the church, stealing all the money that the bishop had collected for the poor and razing many of the city buildings to the ground.

After making good his escape from Pavia, Orestes rallies the few surviving units of Roman troops stationed in northern Italy and is able to move his small army to the city of Piacenza.

The forces of Odoacer and Orestes finally meet on the battlefield.

The inexperienced Roman commander and his few and sparse Imperial troops, disorganized and unprepared, stand no chance against the savagery of Odoacer's mercenary army.

The majority of the Roman soldiers are either killed, captured, or driven off, while Orestes is on August 28 apprehended near the city and swiftly executed.